Smart grid bid rings of 'fluoridate' debate

Mention the word fluoridation in Worcester and you are apt to elicit a reaction of great disdain from many folks, similar to the horror a vampire exhibits when shown a mirror or crucifix.

That's because no other local issue in Worcester has generated as much passion or emotion over the years as the controversial practice of fluoridation.

Whenever public health officials have brought forward a proposal to fluoridate the city's drinking water, it has always been met by strong opposition from those who argued such a practice would infringe on their freedom to choose.

You also had people like former City Councilor George Wells, hailed during his day as the champion of the common people, who once labeled the fluoride treatment of city water as "rat poison."

Others have gone on to cite a number of alleged deleterious effects that fluoride-treated water has on the human body, such as bone cancer, kidney problems, heart defects and a whole host of ailments.

The way they see it, if people want to have fluoride in their water then they should deal with it personally rather than have it forced upon everyone.

Today, there is an issue that is rivaling fluoridation in terms of generating passion and emotion among the people, and it has do with National Grid's Smart Energy Solutions program, more commonly known as "smart grid."

Like fluoridation, opponents of the smart grid are lamenting the loss of personal freedoms they claim it will bring about, along with all sorts of health issues allegedly associated with it.

Indeed, smart grid is fluoridation revisited in Worcester.

"This is going to be like the fluoridate debate years ago," said Steve Quist, who has formed the group and launched a Facebook page (Stop NG Smart Grid) in opposition to the smart grid program. "I honestly feel that Worcester is going to be an important battleground for this program. It has to be stopped here."

A smart grid is an "intelligent" electricity distribution network that uses two-way communications, advanced sensors, and specialized computers that can help reduce customers' energy use and facilitate greater reliability, efficiency and availability of the electricity distribution system.

The smart meters are also intended to give the utility more pinpointed information about customer usage and provide customers a better sense of how they use electricity.

Last year, National Grid announced a smart grid pilot program for Worcester involving 15,000 of its customers — the largest smart grid program in Massachusetts. Special meters are being installed at those participating homes and businesses.

As part of the pilot program, National Grid wants to construct a communications infrastructure at four electric substations, so data about the electrical grid system could be passed along throughout various parts of the city.

In most instances, National Grid is looking to install three so-called "WiMAX" and two microwave antennas on poles atop existing transmission structures at the substations. Radio/receiver units will also be installed at each substation.

So far, the Zoning Board of Appeals has granted the necessary special permits to allow personal wireless service facilities at three of its electric substations — Vernon Hill (10 Gloucester Road and 245 Vernon St.), Greendale (4 Naples Road) and the Bloomingdale station off Wigwam Avenue.

But the fourth and final piece to the puzzle has been a tough one for National Grid to secure. Originally, the electric company wanted to construct an 80-foot-high lattice tower with a 10-foot-high mast at its Cooks Pond electric substation on Tory Fort Lane.

But that proposal drew strong opposition from residents in the Tory Fort Lane area, who have raised safety concerns about having such a tower in such close proximity to several homes.

While the communications equipment at the Vernon Hill, Greendale and Bloomingdale substations will be installed atop existing transmission structures, the new and much larger tower at the Cooks Pond substation was to replace a pole that is only 55 feet in height.

When people complained about the proposed tower on Tory Fort Lane, it caught the attention of some of the city's elected officials, and they got in on the act.

That opposition prompted National Grid to look for an alternate site for the tower. It found one in the heart of Tatnuck Square, at its substation at 597 Mill St.

The electric company has petitioned the Zoning Board of Appeals for a special permit and variance to allow for the construction of a 90-foot-high, ground-mounted monopole at that site. National Grid needs a special permit to allow a wireless facility in a business-general zoning district, and a zoning variance because the height limit in that zone is 40 feet.

The site is next to a shopping center at Mill and Chandler streets, and is near the Worcester Housing Authority's Mill Pond Apartments at 600 Mill St., a McDonald's restaurant and an apartment complex off Brookside Avenue behind the shopping center.

Opponents of the smart grid program, including people from outside of Worcester who have become involved in the debate, have expressed concerns about the impact of radio and electromagnetic frequencies, and potentially harmful radiation emanating from the communications infrastructure at the substations.

They have also argued that people should not be required to opt out of the smart grid program if they do not wish to participate in it; rather, they contend that people should be required to sign up for it if they want to participate.

National Grid officials said the communications technology it will be using for its smart grid program has been proven safe worldwide.

Also, National Grid will be required by the city to have a post-installation radio frequency test done before the city issues its final use permits for the facilities. The purpose of the test is to make sure the radio and electromagnetic frequencies being emitted by the installation do not exceed Federal Communications Commission guidelines.

But a number of people do not feel that is enough to protect residents and they continue to raise questions about the safety of the system and whether the city should even host the smart grid pilot program.

They point out that smart grid technology has been rejected in Illinois, Connecticut and Michigan, and that Maine is reconsidering it now after initially approving it.

"There are just a lot of questions and concerns about this system and it's something we should not be rushing into," Mr. Quist said.